G20 communique highlights Russian isolation at global leaders’ gathering

‘Most members’ of group condemn war in Ukraine

Russia’s isolation at this week’s G20 summit in Indonesia was highlighted by a final communique in which the group stated that “most members” condemn its war in Ukraine.

The statement concluding the two-day annual gathering was carefully worded to skirt round the dispute which saw Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov blasted by world leaders including Rishi Sunak.

There had been concern as the Bali summit began that it would not be possible to agree a statement, because the communiques represent a consensus view and Russia would not sign up to anything criticising its actions.

In the event, a form of words was found which amounted to strong condemnation of the war in Ukraine, without specifically allocating blame to Moscow.

And the document pointed out that “there were other views and different assessments of the situation” among G20 members, without making clear whether this applied only to Russia or whether others shared its opposition.

The communique noted that the UN Security Council and General Assembly had passed a resolution “deploring in the strongest terms” Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and demanding the withdrawal of its troops.

And it continued: “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy - constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks.

“There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognising that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.”